1914 Cracker Jacks are no stranger to alterations and fakes. And with their increase in interest this year, we will likely see even more fakes/alterations on the market. I pulled this guide together to create increased awareness for all 14 CJ collectors.
I encourage anyone that sees a mistake to reply so it can be corrected for the community. Please also reply if you are aware of any omissions!
I would like to thank all contributors to the alteration and forgery/reprint section of Net54, which helped me write this. Thanks also to those that made contributions to 1914 CJ forgery awareness in the Net54 archive.
Required tools to identify fakes/alterations- Flexible Ruler: Should have a metric side scaled to the millimeter and the United States standard side that can measure down to 1/32" of an inch.
- Black Light: Used to reveal a part of a card that may have been re-colored with paint, markers, pens, etc. or has rebuilt corners. In some instances it can also be used to tell if a card has been altered with the use of chemicals. A black light must be used in a dark room, the darker the better. It’s best for the card to be removed from any holder. The holder itself can have a fluorescence or otherwise mask the card’s fluoresce. The black light can identify cardstock that is modern.
- Halogen light should be "at least" 50 watts in power.
- 10X jeweler's loupe
Spotting Alterations & Fakes – The Basics
- Card must be numbered between 1 & 144.
- The back orientation must be normal.
- Each card will measure (inches): 2-1/4 x 3. My opinion is that grading companies will allow a 1/16" and even closer to 1/8" in extreme cases for CJs being a little short or thin and still get a grade.
- The easiest way to tell a reprint from an original is to look at the paper type and quality. Real cards are made from a thin lower quality construction paper, very porous in texture, with a rough surface if viewed closely on both front and back. All fakes I’ve seen will be made from a thin higher quality smooth surfaced modern card stock. Also the fakes will have a smooth slightly glossy or waxy surface to the front, the real cards have no gloss or waxy look to them and will not cast a glare if turned at angle to a light.
Spotting Alterations & Fakes – Advanced
- The 1914 Cracker Jacks cards have no white ink. The white on the cards is created by the absence of ink on the light colored cardstock. If the Cracker Jack player picture has a large white section of his uniform that directly touches the boarder, there should be little or no difference in tone between the border white and the white of the uniform. On many fakes, the border is distinctly different than the white in the player image. Most fakes have a white ink for the white parts of uniform, that doesn’t match the white border of the card. Real cards will have the uniform blend perfectly into the white border where they meet.
- A few photoengraving cards, most notably the 1914 Cracker Jacks, have black and white pictures with one or two extra colors printed over (tinted). Photoengraving means the halftone dots have a distinct dark rim that gives the printing an almost 3D appearance. Photoengraving is identified with a microscope. Under the microscope you will see that the isolated dots have little crosses in the middle. The dark rim and unique dot pattern proves that the printing is old. The photorealistic picture of the player will be made up of black and white half tone dots (the border, other text and designs will often be solid ink).
- There were quite a few CJs "bleached" many years ago with chemicals to brighten the red and the borders and also clean them a bit (caramel staining). I heard a story about a collector attending a show in the late 1980s and asking a dealer about a CJ and was told by the dealer that he bleaches every one he gets. The black light will detect chemical staining.
- The easiest way to detect a trimmed CJ (or any card in that case) is to study the grain of the cards edge. There is, more often than not, slight chipping present along the perimeter of the card. When a card has been trimmed, the chipping disappears.
- Check to see if the cut of the card is wavy - wavy edges are common traits for any trimmed card. The easiest way to tell if an edge is wavy is to hold the card at eye level, perpendicular to the ground. Run your eye across the edge that you suspect is trimmed. Cards were generally not cut with wavy edges, so a wavy edge is a bad sign.
- Check for uneven corner wear. Common sense would tell you that your CJ should have (but does not necessarily have to have) even corner wear. When the wear on it is not even, that is an indicator that it has been trimmed.
- Look for edges that are not parallel - the equal and opposite test. A card’s borders should be equal and opposite in size and centering.
- Look at the toning of the grain on the 4 borders of the card. Grain that is not uniform in toning is uncommon for cards and can be an indicator of card trimming.
- A light edge(s) compared to tone colored edge could mean the card has been trimmed. With your 10X jeweler's loupe and under the light carefully inspect the corners looking at the overall condition and for any abnormalities.
09-21-2014, 02:51 PM
1914 Cracker Jacks - CSI Style!
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